The Tampon King of India

Years ago, Arunachalam Muruganantham saw his wife collecting dirty rags to use for her period and thought there might be a better way. Now the sanitary napkins he invented in response are made and sold all over rural India, often by women.

The conversation spurred Mr Muruganantham into a frenzy of invention to try and produce an affordable napkin for women such as his wife. Such was his dedication, bordering on obsession, that he once wore a football bladder of animal blood to trial a prototype. He was forced from his home by villagers who thought his methods had become too perverse after he started collecting used napkins from medical students and storing them in his home. He was even abandoned - albeit temporarily - by his wife and mother, who believed he had gone mad.